Kanthas
Over the last decade, as part of her ongoing Storytelling with Saris project, Monica Jahan Bose has created dozens of climate justice saris with woodblock, writing, and painting in collaboration with women farmers from her ancestral island village as well as with residents of Washington DC and other places in North America and Europe. Some saris are returned to Katakhali and worn by the women farmers. These worn saris are being made into kanthas, a type of quilt made by women in Bangladesh. Worn and faded saris are cut, layered in three, and joined with stitches and embroidery to create kanthas, traditionally used as baby swaddles, blankets, and wraps. Jahan Bose is working with a dozen women farmers from her ancestral village to create kanthas. Jahan Bose uses the sari as a symbol of sustainability and continuity: saris are never discarded. The kanthas are archives of the Storytelling with Saris project, embedded with layers of woodblock printing, writing, and climate pledges from people around thew world along with embroidery and stitching by Jahan Bose and Bangladeshi women.
